How to watch March Madness 2026

Spring on It’s us, which means the beginning of the end of seasonal depression (fingers crossed), spring break with the kids, and of course brackets and betting with March Madness.

This is the annual tournament that determines which men’s and women’s Division I teams will win the NCAA Basketball Championship. This year, the matches begin on Tuesday, March 17 for men and Wednesday, March 18 for women.

However, the 2026 March Madness game officially begins this weekend, with participating teams announced on March 15 that Sunday.

You can watch March Madness games live if you’re still subscribed to your old cable box, but who are we kidding — I know you cut cable and want to stream the games online.

To stream NCAA Tournament March Madness games, you’ll have to access different platforms. I’ve done all the research for you, including how much it costs and what’s included (and when you should cancel your membership after March Madness).

Where is the broadcast?

HBO Max ($18.49 per month and up for tiers that include live sports): Your HBO Max account lets you stream 42 men’s March Madness games broadcast on CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. There are several tiers of HBO Max available, and the service is often bundled with Hulu and Disney+, but know that the cheapest plan at $11 per month for HBO Max doesn’t include live streaming of sporting events. There’s the Standard plan at $18.49, which gets you all the games in HD, and the Premium plan at $23 per month, which streams games in 4K with Dolby Atmos audio. (WIRED also has Max promo codes, which can help you save on Max subscription plans.) There is no free trial.

Paramount + Premium ($13 per month): To watch any men’s March Madness games broadcast on CBS, get the Paramount+ Premium plan. Since this subscription lets you stream games on CBS, and the standard HBO Max plan lets you stream games on the big cable networks, you can watch all of the men’s March Madness games through a combination of these two plans. Just note that Paramount+ Premium is marketed as ad-free streaming, but that doesn’t apply to live TV; Your NCAA coverage will include advertising. One week free trial.

ESPN Unlimited ($30 per month). ESPN’s top-tier streaming service contains all the programming across all ESPN networks. This is a great option if you want to watch all of the women’s March Madness matches, as the entire women’s tournament will be shown across the various ESPN channels. ESPN is often bundled with Hulu and Disney+, but if you have one of these packages, just check your ESPN tier to make sure your plan lets you watch all the games.

Hulu + Live TV ($90 per month): You can watch all the games — men’s and women’s — broadcast live on CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV and ESPN in one place by choosing a Hulu subscription with the “Live TV” add-on. This package costs $83 per month, but Hulu gives you a free three-day trial. Hulu has beefed up its NCAA coverage in recent years, with personalized recommendations, live TV video streaming on up to two devices, push notifications when games start, and the ability to select which games you want to watch later. (WIRED also has Hulu coupons, which can help you save on Hulu subscription plans.) Three-day free trial.

YouTube TV ($83 per month): Getting YouTube TV is like getting live TV from any channel you want, with content from more than 100 channels, including CBS, ABC, and cable channels with March Madness coverage. You can stream every televised men’s and women’s match using this package. YouTube TV also has a great multi-viewing feature that lets you arrange four streams on your TV at once, so you can watch multiple games at the same time. If you sign up now, through March 17, you can save big on your first two months with a discounted plan of just $60 per month.